A Is for Ox: The Collapse of Literacy and the Rise of Violence in an Electronic Age (Paperback)

by Barry Sanders (Author) "Humans speak. Humans listen. But very few oral peoples in the world-that vast assembly of speakers and listeners-ever make the radically disruptive move into literacy..." (more)
Key Phrases: Middle Ages, Kaspar Hauser, Ivan Illich (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A brilliant, disturbing reflection on the collapsing moral order of post-modern America. If literacy is the wellspring of selfhood, as Sanders makes clear, our aggressive, image-addicted society is unwittingly committing cultural suicide."--Mike Davis

Product Description
The failure of increasing numbers of young people to attain even minimum levels of literacy signals a catastrophe at the deepest levels of our culture. A Is for Ox is an important and impassioned work that both proves this conclusion and suggests what can be done to change it.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Fifth Printing edition (September 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679742859
• ISBN-13: 978-0679742852
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #381,144 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Electronic images insignificant compared to POWER OF WORDS, March 18, 1997

By A Customer

Here's another cultural critic (among a few but growing number) who calls our fascination with electronic media into question. Barry Sanders argues that literacy is on the decline, in large measure because of our fixation on electronically created sources of "knowledge" -- tv, computer games, videos, software. The problem is, these much-heralded technological breakthroughs fail to give us a coherent sense of our own "voice." Sanders believes that the narrative power of true literary sources (stories, myths,and BOOKS, DAMMIT!) provides us with a necessary framework for interpreting our own pains and frustrations, and connects us to others in meaningful ways. In a culture where more and more of the young prefer to be amused by passively responding to electronic images, these same persons find their angst disconnected from the context of shared humanity. No wonder then, that we read about senseless killings where child-perpetrators feel no remorse for their victims. No acquired voice, no humanity ... so they violently lash out when meaninglessness becomes unbearable. Read this book and then engage in subterfuge acts -- like joining book discussion groups, reading aloud to kids, writing journals, and otherwise declining to allow electronic gadgets to do your "thinking" for you. Radical? In these times, you bet

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful rant, March 3, 2003

By	Jzig (Lincoln Park, MI USA) - See all my reviews

Sanders does a wonderful job articulating the reasoning behind many current debates about language, education, literacy, and the shifting definition of written communication. I highly recommend this book, along with Leonard Shlain's The Alphabet versus the Goddess (which offers an alternative view) as food for thought to anyone who teaches, designs, communicates...

0 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Is for Ox : The Collapse of Literacy and the Rise of Violence in an Electronic Age (Vintage, August 2, 2005

By	J. Tukhi - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

quick shipping and great condition. thanks.